Sergei Nikolayevich Ignashevich is a Russian football coach and a former central defender. He works as a head coach of a Russian Football National League club Torpedo Moscow. He began his career at Torpedo Moscow, going up through the club's academy before briefly moving to twin club Spartak Moscow's academy and then starting his professional career with Spartak Orekhovo. He played for Lokomotiv Moscow and CSKA Moscow in his career, and has won Russian Premier League titles for both clubs, as well as the 2005 UEFA Cup Final with CSKA. Ignashevich is often considered one of the highest skilled defenders in the Russian Premier League while playing alongside fellow Russian international defenders and twin brothers Aleksei and Vasili Berezutskiy. He made his international debut for Russia in 2002, and was selected in their squads for two European Championships and two FIFA World Cups, helping them to the semi-finals of Euro 2008, earning his 100th cap at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and as part of the host team reached the quarter-finals of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. On 8 September 2015, he made his 110th international appearance and became the most capped player in Russia's team history, overtaking Viktor Onopko. On 17 November 2015, he made his 114th appearance, making him the most capped Russian player for any national team. On 2 April 2017, he played his 457th game in the Russian Premier League, setting a new record for most games played in the competition and overtaking the previous record holder Sergei Semak. As of 10 December 2017, his record stands at 479 games.
Club career
After short spells with Spartak Orekhovo and Krylia Sovetov, Ignashevich joined Lokomotiv Moscow in 2001. In his first season with the capital club, the defender was part of the team which won the Russian Cup. A year later, Lokomotiv won the Russian league title. In 2004, Ignashevich left Lokomotiv for city rivals CSKA. In his twelve years with the club, Ignashevich has won the 2005, 2006 and 2013 league titles, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2013 Russian Cups, and the 2004–05 UEFA Cup. Both Ignashevich and Aleksei Berezutskiy were provisionally suspended after both players' A samples revealed the presence of a prohibited substance following a random doping test after CSKA's UEFA Champions League match at Manchester United on 3 November 2009. It was later revealed that they had taken a cold medicine which had not been reported, and both players were suspended for one game, which was applied retroactively. Following retirement after the 2018 World Cup, Ignashevich chose to remain with CSKA as a coach, specifically working within the youth set up at the club.
International career
Ignashevich made his debut for the Russia national football team against Sweden on 21 August 2002. He started all ten of the team's UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying matches, scoring three times, but missed the tournament finals in Portugal due to injury. He later appeared for Russia at both the 2008 and 2012 UEFA European Championships, helping the team to the semi-finals in the former. On 2 June 2014, Ignashevich was included in Russia's 2014 FIFA World Cup squad. On 16 June, he made his FIFA World Cup debut in the team's first group match against South Korea. He was then named in the starting line-up for the second match against Belgium at the Maracanã on 22 June. He became only the second Russian, after Viktor Onopko, to earn his 100th cap, in the final group game against Algeria on 26 June in Curitiba. Russia drew 1–1 and their opponents advanced at their expense. Ignashevich came out of international retirement prior to the 2018 FIFA World Cup as he was called up on 14 May 2018 to replace injured Ruslan Kambolov. On 3 June 2018, he was included in the finalized World Cup squad. Against Spain in the Round of Sixteen, he scored an own-goal while tangling with Sergio Ramos during a corner set-piece, but Russia would equalize thanks to a penalty, and in the shoot-out Ignashevich converted his spot kick to help Russia advance. Following Russia's elimination in the 2018 FIFA World Cup quarterfinal against Croatiaafter extra time ended deadlocked 2–2, where he successfully converted a shoot-out kick, Ignashevich announced his retirement from all forms of football.
Coaching career
After finishing his playing career, Ignashevich was appointed an administrator for the Under-21 squad of CSKA Moscow. On 4 June 2019, a few days after Torpedo Moscow promotion to Football National League, he became the head coach of Torpedo.
